Spring Arena

Thursday, 23 February 2017

Again, Amnesty International this
time, had accused the military of human rights abuses of arbitrarily detaining
240 Boko Haram suspects, including 29 infants at Giwa Barrack who later died in
congested cells.

The international rights group also
accused staff of the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency of secretly
burying the suspects at a cemetery in Maiduguri.

Amnesty disclosed this in Abuja
while presenting its annual report on Nigeria for the year 2016.

However, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ),
in a quick reaction, dismissed the report, accusing Amnesty International of
fabricating its findings.

The Amnesty report also claims Boko
Haram terrorists have continued to commit war crimes and crimes against
humanity in the North-east, affecting 14.8 million people, adding that it
continued to carry out attacks and small-scale raids throughout the year.

It noted that in its response to
the Boko Haram attacks, the military continued to carry out arbitrary arrests,
detentions, ill-treatment, and extrajudicial executions of people suspected of
being Boko Haram fighters.

The report also revealed that the
military arbitrarily arrested thousands of young men, women and children who
fled to the safety of recaptured towns, including Banki and Bama in Borno
State.

These arrests, according to the
report, were largely based on random profiling of men, especially young men,
rather than on reasonable suspicion of having committed a recognisable criminal
offence, adding that in most cases the arrests were made without adequate
investigation.

The report said other people were
arbitrarily arrested as they attempted to flee from Boko Haram, while those
detained by the military had neither access to their families nor lawyers and
were not brought before a court.

The report stated: “More than 1,500
detainees were released throughout the year. The mass arrests by the military,
of people fleeing Boko Haram, led to overcrowding in military detention
facilities.

“At the military detention facility
at Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri, cells were overcrowded.

“Diseases, dehydration and
starvation were rife. At least 240 detainees died during the year. Bodies were
secretly buried in Maiduguri’s cemetery by the Borno State Environmental
Protection Agency staff.

“Among the dead were at least 29
infants and babies, aged between newborn and five years.

“At Giwa Barrack, children under
five were detained in three overcrowded and insanitary women’s cells, alongside
at least 250 women and teenage girls per cell. Some children were born in
detention.

“In May, 737 men detained as Boko
Haram suspects by the army were transferred to the prison in Maiduguri, capital
of Borno State.

“They were charged for being
‘incorrigible vagabonds’, which carried up to two years imprisonment and/or a
fine.”

The report revealed further that
there was continued lack of accountability for serious human rights violations
committed by security officers.

It said no independent and
impartial investigations into crimes committed by the military had taken place
despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s repeated promises in May.

“Moreover, senior military
officials alleged to have committed crimes under international law remained
uninvestigated; Major General Ahmadu Mohammed was reinstated into the army in
January.

“He was in command of operations
when the military executed more than 640 detainees following a Boko Haram
attack on the detention centre in Giwa Barracks on 14 March 2014,” the report
noted.

The amnesty report also put the
crackdown on the media into perspective, saying that government arrested and
detained at least 10 journalists and bloggers without trial.

It said: “In August, Abubakar
Usman, a prominent blogger, was arrested in Abuja, the capital, by the
anti-corruption agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and
accused of contravening the Cyber Crimes Act.

“The commission did not point out
the specific provisions the blogger had contravened; he was released without
being charged.

“In September, Jamil Mabai, was
arrested and detained by the police for posting comments on Facebook and
Twitter that were critical of the Katsina State Government.

“On 5th September, Ahmed Salkida, a
Nigerian journalist based in the United Arab Emirates, was declared wanted by
the military and later arrested by the State Security Services on arrival in
Nigeria.

“He was among three persons
arrested and briefly detained for alleged links to Boko Haram and for
facilitating the release of a Boko Haram video on the abducted Chibok girls. He
was later released; his passport remained confiscated.”

The report fingered also the
security forces for disrupting and in some cases violently and with excessive
use of force, peaceful protests and assemblies.

The report recounted that “on 6th
September, police stopped members of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement (BBOGM).
They had given notice of the protest and gathered peacefully outside the office
and residence of the president in Abuja to demand the release of the abducted
Chibok girls”.

“On 22 September in Abuja, police
fired tear gas canisters to disperse a peaceful protest by the Islamic Movement
in Nigeria, resulting in some minor injuries.

“A number of supporters of Biafran
independence were in detention – many of them since late January – for
attempting to hold or participate in peaceful assemblies. On several occasions,
security forces used excessive force against pro-Biafran activists across
southeastern Nigeria,” it said.

The report maintained that the
deployment of military to police public gatherings contributed to the number of
extrajudicial executions and unlawful killings.

It said since January, in response
to the continued agitation by pro-Biafra campaigners, security forces
arbitrarily arrested and killed at least 100 members and supporters of the
group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), noting that one of those arrested was
subjected to enforced disappearance.

However, DHQ yesterday denied the
allegations by Amnesty International, saying its report was filled with
falsehood.

Director of Defence Information,
Brig Gen Rabe Abubakar said the report was another premeditated attempt by AI
to bring disrepute to the Nigerian military.

Abubakar said: “The report
published by the Amnesty International (AI) alleging death of 240 people including
babies in Borno and 177 pro-Biafran agitators was yet another in its series of
spurious fabrications aimed at tarnishing the good image of the Nigerian
military.

“Without mincing words, the
allegations contained in the said report are not only inconceivable, but have
no place in the Nigerian military.

“The report is another contrived
lie orchestrated to blackmail and ridicule the Nigerian Armed Forces which they
have unsuccessfully tried to do in the past.

“It is on record that Amnesty
International embarked on a series of such false allegations against the
Nigerian military and other security forces as far back as the inception of the
military action against terrorists in the North East.

“Amnesty International only
encourages the activities of non-state actors who take up arms against the
state, killing, maiming and destroying public property, and always accuses the
security forces who are sacrificing everything to restore peace and normalcy.”

He said that the Nigerian military
acknowledges and respects the views and constructive criticism of individuals,
groups or even international organisations including those of Amnesty
International, “but it will neither fall for nor accept the deliberate
falsehood that has no bearing with the facts or reality on the ground”.

“The truth is that the Nigerian
military has always been open in its operations and does not hide its
activities from the probing eyes of the public.

“Amnesty International chose to
bandy fabricated reports and concocted stories instead of seeking
clarifications from the relevant authorities.

“The Defence Headquarters runs an
open door policy in terms of information on its activities in the North-east or
elsewhere and is ever ready to provide clarifications on any issue.

“On a number of times, the National
Human Rights Commission has sent its delegation to seek clarification on issues
they are not comfortable with, and on each occasion, the DHQ always obliged
them with the information they sought.

“Amnesty International would rather
contrive their report to suit their intention which is to cast a slur on the
image and integrity of the Nigerian military.

“It smacks of mischief for Amnesty
International to insist on publishing unverified and unsubstantiated reports as
they alone know why they have embarked on such a dishonorable venture over a
period of time.

“The Nigerian military rejects this
report in its entirety and appeals to all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard
the report and discountenance its contents as it was meant to paint Nigeria in
bad light.